David Sirota from Creators Syndicatehttps://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota
Creators Syndicate is an international syndication company that represents cartoonists and columnists of the highest caliber.enFri, 22 Feb 2019 03:49:24 -0800https://www.creators.com/http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssDavid Sirota from Creators Syndicatehttps://cdn.creators.com/features/david-sirota-thumb.jpghttps://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota
04d535e08ae21c112628486e036664a1Should Companies Have to Pay Taxes? for 09/25/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/09/15/should-companies-have-to-pay-taxes
Fri, 25 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Reading companies' annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission is a reliable cure for insomnia. Every so often, though, there is a significant revelation in the paperwork. Last year, one of the most important revelations came from Microsoft's filings, which spotlighted how the tax code allows corporations to enjoy the benefits of American citizenship yet avoid paying U.S. taxes.</p>
<p>According to the SEC documents, the company is sitting on almost $29.6 billion it would owe in U.S. taxes if it repatriated the $92.9 billion of earnings it is keeping offshore. That amount of money represents a significant spike from prior years.</p>
<p>To put this in perspective, the levies the company would owe amount to almost the entire two-year operating budget of the company's home state of Washington.<p>Updated: Fri Sep 25, 2015</p>2f1cd7817af2dc8663d5909086882f3fA Fight Over One of America's Most Important Waterways for 09/18/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/09/15/a-fight-over-one-of-americas-most-important-waterways
Fri, 18 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Environmental groups and Democratic legislators are pressuring New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to say that General Electric must continue cleaning up the massive pollution the company dumped into the Hudson River from 1947 to 1977. Cuomo's own environmental officials say the pollution continues to cause "ongoing contamination," and federal officials warn that GE's plan to end its cleanup this fall could harm the effort to restore the river's ecosystem.</p>
<p>But the Democratic governor &#8212; who has benefited from GE's campaign cash &#8212; is declining to say whether he agrees.</p>
<p>In comments to reporters in Albany earlier this month, the governor said he thinks the company should "follow the law and the agreements that have been made." Under the 2002 agreement in question, GE is planning to shut down its cleanup operations at the end of 2015 &#8212; which, environmental groups claim, will leave behind at least 35 percent of the carcinogenic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) the company dumped into the river during the mid-20th century.<p>Updated: Fri Sep 18, 2015</p>812ad547df5661e6f5a0f15ed4c7385dProsecution of White Collar Crime Hits 20-Year Low for 09/11/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/09/15/prosecution-of-white-collar-crime-hits-20-year-low
Fri, 11 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Just a few years after the financial crisis, a new report tells an important story: Federal prosecution of white-collar crime has hit a 20-year low.</p>
<p>The analysis by Syracuse University shows a more than 36 percent decline in such prosecutions since the middle of the Clinton administration, when the decline began. Landing amid calls from Democratic presidential candidates for more Wall Street prosecutions, the report notes that the projected number of prosecutions this year is 12 percent less than last year and 29 percent less than five years ago.</p>
<p>"The decline in federal white-collar crime prosecutions does not necessarily indicate there has been a decline in white-collar crime," Syracuse researchers note. "Rather, it may reflect shifting enforcement policies by each of the administrations and the various agencies."<p>Updated: Fri Sep 11, 2015</p>3119cb6df500ed43b92c60c275d872d8Biden's Bankruptcy Bill Could Complicate a Presidential Run for 09/04/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/09/15/bidens-bankruptcy-bill-could-complicate-a-presidential-run
Fri, 04 Sep 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>As Vice President Joe Biden reportedly mulls a bid for the U.S. presidency, his champions portray him as a credible alternative to Democratic Party front-runner Hillary Clinton, who faces accusations that she is beholden to the financial industry. But a Biden campaign risks confronting the scorn of one of the party's most influential progressives, Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Though Biden has reportedly sought her favor, Warren has historically disdained, charging him with acting as a tool of the credit card industry by limiting debt relief for people grappling with financial troubles.</p>
<p>As a Harvard law professor in 2002, Warren published a journal article excoriating Biden for playing a leading role in delivering legislation that made it more difficult for Americans to reduce debts through bankruptcy filings. As the senator from Delaware, Biden's repeated push for the bill &#8212; signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2005 &#8212; amounted to "vigorous support of legislation that hurts women," Warren declared. She said "the group that will be most affected by the changes in the bankruptcy legislation Senator Biden so forcefully supports will be women, particularly women heads of household who are supporting children." </p>
<p>In a separate 2003 book she co-authored with her daughter, Warren said, "Senators like Joe Biden should not be allowed to sell out women in the morning and be heralded as their friend in the evening."<p>Updated: Fri Sep 04, 2015</p>c9ebbcf83a7612c3a4a81ba3d18da9edPowerful Message from an Imperfect Messenger for 08/14/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/08/15/powerful-message-from-an-imperfect-messenger
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Earlier this month, billionaire Charles Koch had a surprising message: In a speech to his fellow conservatives, he said politicians must end taxpayer-funded subsidies and preferential treatment for corporations. </p>
<p>Why is this surprising? Because the demand came from an industrialist whose company and corporate subsidiaries have raked in tens of millions of dollars' worth of such subsidies.</p>
<p>The Koch-organized conference at a luxury resort in Southern California reportedly attracted roughly 450 conservative donors who have committed to spending nearly $900 million on the 2016 presidential election. The event included appearances by Republican presidential candidates such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.<p>Updated: Fri Aug 14, 2015</p>2d93f5d18cc9728387aa175dfdd5aac5Hillary Clinton Running Away From Her Free Trade Record for 08/07/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/08/15/hillary-clinton-running-away-from-her-free-trade-record
Fri, 07 Aug 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>In her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton has lately promoted herself as a populist defender of the middle class. To that end, she attempted to distance herself last week from a controversial 12-nation trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would set the rules of commerce for roughly 40 percent of the world's economy.</p>
<p>As with similar business-backed trade pacts, labor unions, environmental groups and public health organizations are warning that the deal could result in job losses, reduced environmental standards, higher prices for medicine and more power for corporations looking to overturn public interest laws. And so, in her quest for Democratic primary votes, Clinton is suddenly trying to cast herself as a critic of the initiative.</p>
<p>"I did not work on TPP," she said after a meeting with leaders of labor unions who oppose the pact. "I advocated for a multinational trade agreement that would 'be the gold standard.' But that was the responsibility of the United States Trade Representative."<p>Updated: Fri Aug 07, 2015</p>54525feb4ec653dcd7b5a28e0a2ac47cWisconsin's Economic Cautionary Tale for 07/31/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/07/15/wisconsins-economic-cautionary-tale
Fri, 31 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>The continuum of American politics is not a straight line &#8212; it is more like a circle. Travel farther out on the right and left, and ultimately the sides bend to a common position on an issue like taxpayer subsidies for big business. To many progressives, such expenditures are giveaways to the already wealthy. To many conservatives, they are a free-market-distorting waste of taxpayer resources. Both sides also often criticize the subsidies as an instrument of cronyism and corruption.</p>
<p>In recent years, taxpayer subsidies for corporations have become a huge expense: The New York Times estimates that states and cities now spend more than $80 billion a year on such so-called "incentives." For the most part, this gravy train has not faced much pressure to slow down. </p>
<p>But now, as the 2016 presidential campaign intensifies, both the left and the right will have a prime opportunity to spotlight its critiques. That is because one of the most prominent Republican presidential candidates &#8212; Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker &#8212; has made such subsidies a central part of his public policy agenda. Those subsidies have produced both high-profile scandals and lackluster economic results.<p>Updated: Fri Jul 31, 2015</p>82a4ba0bb2bb4fa80cfb99afd5fcf379More 2016 Candidates Embrace the Trump Zeitgeist for 07/24/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/07/15/more-2016-candidates-embrace-the-trump-zeitgeist
Fri, 24 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Since announcing his 2016 White House bid, Donald Trump has been the central focus of the campaign &#8212; by one estimate, he has garnered almost 40 percent of all election coverage on the network newscasts. Clearly, The Donald's attempt to turn 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. into Trump White House has attracted so much attention because the candidate is seen as a Bulworthesque carnival barker who will say anything, no matter how hypocritical, factually unsubstantiated or absurd.</p>
<p>Yet for all the hype he's generated, Trump is not the only presidential hopeful willing to make utterly mind-boggling statements. </p>
<p>Take Hillary Clinton. Earlier this month, she said, "there can be no justification or tolerance for this kind of criminal behavior" that has been seen on Wall Street. She added that "while institutions have paid large fines and in some cases admitted guilt, too often it has seemed that the human beings responsible get off with limited consequences or none at all, even when they have already pocketed the gains." Her campaign echoed the message with an email to supporters lauding Clinton for saying that "when Wall Street executives commit criminal wrongdoing, they deserve to face criminal prosecution."<p>Updated: Fri Jul 24, 2015</p>70b14b71e3f71b918681834ba4db47d1Silicon Valley Emerges as a Political Force for 07/17/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/07/15/silicon-valley-emerges-as-a-political-force
Fri, 17 Jul 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>When Jeb Bush visited Silicon Valley this week, the Republican candidate was visiting the heart of a Democratic state that few expect to be contested in the 2016 presidential election. But when it comes to the political money chase, the Northern California home of the world's technology giants spreads the wealth to both parties &#8212; positioning the tech industry as one of the most powerful forces in American politics.</p>
<p>Since 2008, the Internet firms, software companies, computer manufacturers and data processors that comprise Silicon Valley have delivered more than $172 million worth of campaign contributions in federal elections, according to data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. That's a nearly 40 percent increase over the prior 8 years. Counting only presidential election years, the increase is even more dramatic: The $109 million of Silicon Valley money pumped into the 2008 and 2012 elections represents a 61 percent increase from 2004 and 2000. </p>
<p>Out of the money given directly to candidates (as opposed to third party groups) since 2008, Democrats have received 62 percent of the contributions. But Republicans' 37 percent in that same time was hardly pocket change &#8212; it translated into a whopping $55 million.<p>Updated: Fri Jul 17, 2015</p>9ac385bc715ebb6d617d57dfeb4fff8bHow the Trans-Pacific Partnership Gives Corporations Special Legal Rights for 06/26/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/06/15/how-the-trans-pacific-partnership-gives-corporations-special-legal-rights
Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>In promoting a proposed trade pact covering 12 Pacific Rim nations, President Obama has cast the initiative as an instrument of equity. The Trans-Pacific Partnership would, in his words, "level the playing field" and "give our workers a fair shot." But critics argue that within the hundreds of pages of esoteric provisions, the deal &#8212; like similar ones before it &#8212; includes a glaring double standard: It provides legal rights to corporations and investors that it does not extend to unions, public interest groups and individuals.</p>
<p>Recently leaked drafts of the agreement show the pact includes the kind of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions written into most major trade deals passed since the North American Free Trade Agreement. Those provisions allow companies to use secretive international tribunals to sue sovereign governments for damages when those governments pass public-interest policies that threaten to cut into a corporation's profits or seize a company's property.</p>
<p>But also like past trade deals, the TPP is not expected to allow unions and public-interest groups to bring their own suits in the same tribunals to compel governments to enforce labor, environmental and human rights laws. <p>Updated: Fri Jun 26, 2015</p>d81f442fc4204146e3dc72044029e13dJeb Bush's Audacious Announcement for 06/19/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/06/15/jeb-bushs-audacious-announcement-
Fri, 19 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Presidential campaign announcement speeches typically rehash well-worn themes politicians have long championed. They rarely include shockers or attempts to wholly redefine a candidate. Not so for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush &#8212; his announcement address at Miami Dade College this week was an extreme makeover that included passages that likely had America doing a double take. </p>
<p>To start, Bush slammed politicians for being too close to what he called Washington's "swarms of lobbyists." Yet, Bush has relied on that multibillion-dollar influence industry to bankroll his political campaigns. </p>
<p>The New York Times reports that during his campaigns for Florida governor, "Bush received at least $237,000 from hundreds of lobbyists, lawyers, political consultants and others in the capital." In his presidential run, the Times also notes, he has already held "seven private fundraisers and meet-and-greets in the Washington area," proof that "he seems to have mastered a skill that is crucial in this city: tapping into the money-raising clout of the K Street lobbyists." The Washington Post followed up with a lengthy list of lobbyists now working to help Bush win the Republican presidential nomination.<p>Updated: Fri Jun 19, 2015</p>d7268891be09ea1cb1ba6baa7b25d4d9Has America Changed Since Edward Snowden's Disclosures? for 06/12/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/06/15/has-america-changed-since-edward-snowdens-disclosures
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Two years ago this month, a 29-year-old government contractor named Edward Snowden became the Daniel Ellsberg of his generation, delivering to journalists a tranche of secret documents shedding light on the government's national security apparatus. But whereas Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers detailing one specific military conflict in Southeast Asia, Snowden released details of the U.S. government's sprawling surveillance machine that operates around the globe.</p>
<p>On the second anniversary of Snowden's historic act of civil disobedience, it is worth reviewing what has changed &#8212; and what has not.</p>
<p>On the change side of the ledger, there is the politics of surveillance. For much of the early 2000s, politicians of both parties competed with one another to show who would be a bigger booster of the NSA's operations, fearing that any focus on civil liberties risked their being branded soft on terrorism. Since Snowden, though, the political paradigm has dramatically shifted. <p>Updated: Fri Jun 12, 2015</p>82c5631e1e7bc1930b28e33f790de08eCan Jeb Bush Be His 'Own Man'? for 06/05/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/06/15/can-jeb-bush-be-his-own-man
Fri, 05 Jun 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Jeb Bush's last name comes with advantages that are difficult to overstate. In a presidential race, he gets, among other things, instant name recognition and a built-in fundraising apparatus from his father and brother. Those assets alone explain why a man who hasn't won an election in more than a decade is nonetheless considered a serious contender for his party's presidential nomination.</p>
<p>And yet, a few months into the presidential race, Bush has not been able to turn "contender" into "front-runner," in part because he cannot seem to escape the legacy of the same last name that provides him so many privileges.</p>
<p>Bush's struggle with the Bush legacy started in February, when the former Florida governor gave a speech declaring: "I love my father and my brother. I admire their service to the nation and the difficult decisions they had to make. But I am my own man." There was no problem with the rhetoric, except for the fact that it was accompanied by Bush announcing his foreign policy advisers &#8212; 19 of 21 of which had formerly worked for his father or brother. A few months later, Jeb Bush said his brother was one of his top advisers on the Middle East. <p>Updated: Fri Jun 05, 2015</p>7b203ae866c4e18823f804a1d2e78b11Big Questions About Arms Deals for Clinton Foundation Donors for 05/29/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/05/15/big-questions-about-arms-deals-for-clinton-foundation-donors
Fri, 29 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Among all the rivers of money that have flowed to the Clinton family, one seems to raise the biggest national security questions of all: the stream of cash that came from 20 foreign governments who relied on weapons export approvals from Hillary Clinton's State Department.</p>
<p>Federal law designates the secretary of state as "responsible for the continuous supervision and general direction of sales" of arms, military hardware and services to foreign countries. In practice, that meant that Clinton was charged with rejecting or approving weapons deals &#8212; and when it came to Clinton Foundation donors, Hillary Clinton's State Department did a whole lot of approving. </p>
<p>While Clinton was secretary of state, her department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to Clinton Foundation donors. That figure from Clinton's three full fiscal years in office is almost double the value of arms sales to those countries during the same period of President George W. Bush's second term.<p>Updated: Fri May 29, 2015</p>dda597701d1f9d6ccf0c58da320f4adeAmtrak's Spectrum Gap for 05/22/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/05/15/amtraks-spectrum-gap
Fri, 22 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>In the public eye, the disaster on the rails last week in Philadelphia was not only tragic but also shocking. As a crowded Amtrak train approached a bend in the track, it was barreling along at more than 100 miles an hour &#8212; twice the mandated speed for that section. The resulting derailment killed eight people, highlighting grave deficiencies in Amtrak's safety system.</p>
<p>But while Amtrak officials may have been devastated, they could not have been surprised: The accident confirmed clear vulnerabilities in the safety system, shortcomings that the rail company's internal watchdog had been warning about for more than two years.</p>
<p>In a December 2012 report, Amtrak's inspector general wrote that "formidable" and "significant challenges" were delaying deployment of a safety system known as Positive Train Control, which identifies cars that are traveling at excessive speeds and automatically slows their progress. Four years earlier, Congress had required that Amtrak and other American rail companies add the technology to their operations, but only a fraction of the rail systems were by then covered. Had the PTC technology been in place in Philadelphia, federal regulators say, the derailment might well have been prevented.<p>Updated: Fri May 22, 2015</p>ce82db2bcea3226af49a1ee38bdb347dThe Marijuana Economy Comes Out of the Shadows for 05/15/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/05/15/the-marijuana-economy-comes-out-of-the-shadows
Fri, 15 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>The convention floor at Denver Airport's Crowne Plaza on a recent afternoon could have been the trade show for any well-established industry &#8212; gray-haired execs in conservative suits mingling with office park dads in polos and fresh-out-of-college types in brand-emblazoned T-shirts. Only this is a new kind of business conference with a special Colorado theme: legal weed.</p>
<p>After Colorado voters legalized marijuana in 2012, more states and cities are considering a similar path for themselves. At the same time, the cannabis market is looking less like a music festival and more like a Silicon Valley confab &#8212; upscale, data-driven and focused on investors.</p>
<p>Vendors and potential financiers at last month's Marijuana Investor Summit here in the Mile High City say the current market for legal cannabis is more than $3 billion in the 23 states that have already legalized the drug for medicinal or recreational use. Expanding that market, they say, will require not just drug reform legislation, but also a consistent infusion of capital at a time when the marijuana economy still exists in a legal gray area &#8212; one where the drug is permitted in some states, but still outlawed at the federal level.<p>Updated: Fri May 15, 2015</p>18845d9fb71db5d8f7a9538fada392d3Christie's Administration Is Facing Another Investigation for 05/08/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/05/15/christies-administration-is-facing-another-investigation
Fri, 08 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>If after last week's Bridgegate indictments you thought Chris Christie was finally done as the focus of government investigations, think again. The Republican governor's administration in New Jersey is facing a whole new inquiry &#8212; this one involving hundreds of millions of dollars, and not just blocked-off bridge lanes.</p>
<p>At issue are the fees being paid by New Jersey's beleaguered public pension system to Wall Street firms. In recent years, Christie's officials have shifted more of the retirement savings of teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public workers into the hands of private financial firms. That has substantially increased the management fees paid by taxpayers to those firms. Indeed, while Christie says the pension system cannot afford to maintain current retirement benefits, pension fees paid to financial firms have quadrupled to $600 million a year &#8212; or $1.5 billion in total since he took office in 2010.</p>
<p>In recent months, details have emerged showing that Christie officials have directed lucrative pension management deals to some financial companies whose executives have made contributions to Republican groups backing Christie's election campaigns. Additionally, Christie's officials have admitted that they have not been fully disclosing all the fees the state has been paying to private financial firms. <p>Updated: Fri May 08, 2015</p>a665d1d3ad8fe5782ab29f00d5fb4c18Democrats Embrace Citizens United in Defense of Clinton for 05/01/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/04/15/democrats-embrace-citizens-united-in-defense-of-clinton
Fri, 01 May 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>Less than three weeks into her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has already accomplished a stunning feat: She appears to have unified large swaths of the Democratic Party and its activist base to support the core tenets of the Citizens United decision &#8212; the one that effectively allowed unlimited money into politics.</p>
<p>That 2010 Supreme Court ruling declared that, unless there is an explicit quid pro quo, the fact that major campaign donors "may have influence over or access to elected officials does not mean that these officials are corrupt." The theory is that as long as a donor and a politician do not agree to an overt bribe, everything is A-OK.</p>
<p>When the ruling was handed down, Democrats were outraged, and Hillary Clinton herself has recently suggested she wants it overturned. Yet with revelations that firms with business before Clinton's State Department donated to her foundation and paid her husband, Clinton's campaign and rank-and-file Democratic activists are suddenly championing the Citizens United theory. <p>Updated: Fri May 01, 2015</p>6dc43f0c743c723f7256063eae9e1da5Cities and States Paying Massive Secret Fees to Wall Street for 04/24/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/04/15/cities-and-states-paying-massive-secret-fees-to-wall-street-
Fri, 24 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>California's report said $440 million. New Jersey's said $600 million. In Pennsylvania, the tally is $700 million. Those Wall Street fees paid by public workers' pension systems have kicked off an intensifying debate over whether such expenses are necessary. Now, a report from an industry-friendly source says those huge levies represent only a fraction of the true amounts being raked in by Wall Street firms from state and local governments.</p>
<p>"Less than one?half of the very substantial [private equity] costs incurred by U.S. pension funds are currently being disclosed," says the report from CEM, whose website says the financial analysis firm "serve(s) over 350 blue-chip corporate and government clients worldwide."</p>
<p>Currently, about 9 percent &#8212; or $270 billion &#8212; of America's $3 trillion public pension fund assets are invested in private equity firms. With the financial industry's standard 2 percent management fee, that quarter-trillion dollars generates roughly $5.4 billion in annual management fees for the private equity industry &#8212; and that's not including additional "performance" fees paid on investment returns. If CEM's calculations are applied uniformly, it could mean taxpayers and retirees may actually be paying double &#8212; more than $10 billion a year. <p>Updated: Fri Apr 24, 2015</p>9c13e2ddae4d240636857e90de2f9a6dGOP's Libertarians Aren't All That Libertarian for 04/17/2015https://www.creators.com/read/david-sirota/04/15/gops-libertarians-arent-all-that-libertarian
Fri, 17 Apr 2015 00:00:00 -0700<p>In Republican primary politics, the libertarian brand carries cachet, which explains why many of the GOP's presidential candidates are battling to position themselves as the one true standard-bearer of small government conservatism. But a funny thing is happening on the way to the Republican primaries: The whole notion of small government libertarianism has been hijacked by politicians who often represent the opposite.</p>
<p>Take Lindsey Graham, whose political action committee is staffing up for the South Carolina Republican senator's possible presidential run. In an interview with an Iowa newspaper earlier this month, Graham said: "Libertarians want smaller government. Count me in. Libertarians want oversight of government programs and making sure that your freedoms are not easily compromised. Count me in." </p>
<p>Yet, despite that rhetoric, Graham has been one of the most outspoken proponents of mass surveillance. Indeed, in response to news that the National Security Agency has been vacuuming up millions of Americans' telephone calls, there was no sign of Graham's purported small government libertarianism. Instead, he said in 2013, "I'm glad that activity is going on" and declared, "I'm sure we should be doing this."<p>Updated: Fri Apr 17, 2015</p>